#re: anonymous

[matryosika]

& felix too but lix has openly admitted to liking chubby girls 😋😋

honestly i feel like all of skz just love love love mid and plus size people, but the thought of Hyunjin just randomly came to me rn and I needed to let it out my chest 🤧

and felix makes a lot of sense, too. godddddd i just know he would kiss his partner from head to toe, complimenting them a lot!

[utilitycaster]

Could you give your full thoughts on the Caduceus answer from C2e2? Very curious to hear them

Sure! So to give a quick summary if anyone hasn't watched it, the question was "How would Caduceus and Pike respond to Asha and Trist from Downfall, seeing as they are their gods." Taliesin's answer was that Caduceus would struggle with it and his response would ultimately be that his practice is much more about nature and the ecosystem and natural order than the Wildmother herself, so he'd have issues with his god but ultimately maintain his practice.

First off, I like this, as a person who is religiously observant in many ways but philosophically agnostic; maintaining the balance of nature and providing a means of burial and grieving are important, regardless of whether there is a figurehead representing them. I also think this means that the loss of the Wildmother as a more active presence is something Caduceus will similarly adapt to, as will many other people, ie, the gods being mortal will certainly affect people deeply but the institutions involved will, as we even saw a bit in the C3 finale, remain. This is both true to life, in which multiple religious institutions exist and even contradict and conflict to the point of bloodshed, and there is to my opinion no hard proof of any deity's existence; and also indicates once again that lessening the presence of the gods won't actually fix any real-world political problems and might make some of them worse; on some level it's the kindest solution to the gods and Predathos and immediately emotionally devastating but ultimately merely a mildly negative to neutral effect for the actual people of Exandria and Ruidus other than the jealous types who are now glad that no one can have the toy firetruck if they can't have it.

The second is that it's very funny because Taliesin also described Asha as very much his idea of the Wildmother Caduceus worships! She is violent and hungry and largely merciless; it's just he doesn't like to see what that actually means when she is a person and not an abstract anthropomorphized force! This is unsurprising, by which I mean it's great and entirely in character. Caduceus is really often uncomfortable with the real-world implications or what happens when the tenets of the natural world meet society and people - which is also fun, because that's the whole point of the Wildmother and the Lawbearer's romance and conflict. Caduceus tries to use the idea of nature's presence to get Fjord to stop lying, to which Fjord points out nature deceives all the time. Caduceus is very much a contradiction; a deeply civilized if not very socialized person whose nature-based practice is heavily focused on a very specific facet of other people. He runs a graveyard! I'd also add that for all he says nature is violent, Caduceus late-game is getting very tired of the violence. The Clays also deal with one of the least violent aspects; the slow decay of a ground burial, vs. the Stones and the visceral (quite literally) destruction of air burial or the Dusts and chucking one's body into a volcano. To compare with Fjord, Fjord's deal is "no, I love the sea as a safe place and a home, and also because it can kill you in a thousand different ways without a shred of mercy" and embraces that aspect of the Wildmother (as well as a comfort with violence in society to a greater end).

I would also add that I feel this does also underscore the complete incoherence of Bells Hells' positions at the end (vs, Caduceus feeling inconsistent/a little hypocritical in a way that feels very true to life for people, who are contradictory and a little hypocritical, and wonderfully in character!): we have here a devotee of a god - a devotee who, I would argue, is truly trying to provide a net good to the world and is not engaging in oppression or colonization in any capacity - who both would have been very uncomfortable with his gods' actions in Downfall and distanced himself, and also (per another answer from Taliesin in I think the wrap-up) believes the choice to have the gods take on mortal form is the kindest choice - without that context. It really asks the question "did suppressing the Downfall story accomplish anything than putting Liliana at risk, in the end, or was the motivation behind a lot of the actions Bells Hells took ultimately some kind of weird scrupulosity-driven behavior that didn't actually have any consistent principles behind it other than 'I hope I'm not a bad person', which is an ass-backwards way to behave."

[aroaceleovaldez]

The himbo, malewife, goofball -fication of percy jackson is such a crime by both the fans and riordan. It has made Mr not like percabeth as a couple because in all posts and in later books annabeth is such a girlboss, while Percy's dumb and can't fight his way out of a paperbag without her. All the posts are about how annabeth will be an architect and percy would love to be a trophy husband.

Even the humor in the books went from Percy's sharp wit and snark to 'my pancakes can't drown because I'm a son of poseidon.'

And now this recommendation letter bullshit.

Honestly now I'd wish percy just separated from annabeth (but they remain best friends.) He stays home with his family, becomes a camp counselor, helps young demigods, holds God's accountable and eventually becomes a social activist. (I also dislike him doing something marine biology related. It's clear he hates academics but he always wants to help people. Him helping demigods and mortals is such a wholesome profession for him.)

I fully agree with the first half of this, though I slightly disagree with part of the latter.

The later-series and fanon mischaracterization of Percy is at least a solid 50% ableism minimum, full stop. He's being warped into a very stereotyped ADHD character and the exact reason why he's being characterized as "dumb" is because of ableism. Percy is a very intelligent character! That's exactly why he's so in sync with Annabeth and they're such a strong duo! It's just generally Annabeth is more book/academically smart.

I disagree with where you say he hates academics - because that's one of the common misconceptions about his character. Percy doesn't hate learning or academic subjects! He's not even bad at them! We know explicitly that when he is in an accommodating environment he is interested in learning and gets significantly better grades! Percy only dislikes school because it is generally an environment that systematically he struggles with. It's literally just he has a learning disability (two, actually)! That's it! When his learning disability is accommodated for he does well! It's almost like that's what accommodations are all about! We know this from the first series! It's discussed pretty in-depth! Percy isn't a dumb character and he doesn't hate learning, he's just been let down by school systems so much that he's inherently distrustful of them. If they actually accommodate him though then he does just fine!

And that's exactly what CHB was all about and why New Rome University was supposed to be such a big thing for him! CHB is a learning environment geared for demigods. NRU is a demigod college. Both inherently imply an environment meant to cater to and accommodate students with ADHD and dyslexia! They are both systematically structured to be able to accommodate him! Heck, CHB and CJ even both address in the wider themes of the series a metaphor about how ADHD and dyslexia are commonly seen as childhood disabilities, and how it can be more difficult to find accommodations into adulthood because of that attitude but those disabilities don't just go away - that's why CHB is a summer camp but they talk about how demigods outside of CHB don't often fare well. The metaphor there is those who are not getting help or accommodations are struggling. Because that's how that works! This is a fully intentional metaphor from the first series! CHB is never framed as being perfect for demigods, because one of the entire central conflicts of the series is Percy and Luke going back and forth about this flawed system meant to help and support them but still letting people fall through the cracks. The "claim your kids by 13" thing is a metaphor about how acknowledging a child's disabilities (and possibly getting a diagnosis) earlier/as early as possible means they will have more time to learn and build up resources and support for themselves to be able to use later in life. One of CHB's major flaws is that it can accommodate demigods to a certain point, but it can only do so much before those demigods have to leave (the metaphor being accommodating school systems when those disabled students do not have any other forms of accommodations in their lives.)

And that's why Camp Jupiter was framed as being so revolutionary for Percy because it had an environment acknowledging that this is not just a childhood disability, adults with ADHD/dyslexia exist too and still need and deserve accommodations, AND is a place where those accommodations are available. That's why Camp Jupiter and NRU are treated as such special and important things to Percy, because it's essentially Percy being shown this type of thing can and does exist and it is available to him. It is an option he never thought was possible. Percy never thought he'd be able to go to college because he would not be able to go through school without accommodations, but NRU proves otherwise.

The part that's absolutely stupid is Rick then proceeded to retcon NRU so that apparently it's not a full college and Percy still has to take classes at normal mortal college which DEFEATS THE ENTIRE PURPOSE OF NRU EXISTING. Rick has fully retconned that demigods struggle past the ages of 16-18 when they're on their own (see above elaborated metaphors) and in doing so we have fully killed all symbolism in literally all of that. It's so stupid. And by having the plot of the CoTG trilogy entirely be that Percy is not actually allowed access to NRU in the first place because he is a son of Poseidon and has to do extra to even be accepted is stupid!

All that to say, I agree the marine biology feels like a huge cop-out and a disservice to his character by reducing him to just a son of Poseidon. The literal only reason why it's the default option people take for him is because oh, fish thing, fish guy. But I feel like everyone ignores the really obvious answer for what Percy would want to do which is - writing. Both his parents are writers/authors and he clearly admires that about them. Percy likes telling stories! He canonically is already a published author in-universe! That's what the books ARE in-universe! The first series fully exists in their universe and Percy is the author! This is explicit canonical information! Percy canonically has help physically writing it down (accommodations) but he is still the credited author! Percy is a writer! Already! Canonically! Why are we making him a marine biologist he already has a profession that ties into his character significantly more. Like you said, Percy likes helping people. That's what the books in-universe are supposed to be for! It's point blank at the beginning of the series! Book one! The thing everybody quotes all the time! The books exist because it is Percy trying to give advice to other demigods who don't know what's going on yet! It's Percy's writing down his experiences to help new demigods understand and contextualize their experiences so they can understand themselves better and figure out what's going on - WHICH IN ITSELF IS ALSO A METAPHOR ABOUT ADHD/DYSLEXIA! Because the core of the series has and always will be built around ADHD/dyslexia! Percy as a protagonist EXPLICITLY was created so that ADHD/dyslexic kids could see themselves as a hero!

Sorry that all was a very tangential rant but my point being: Absolutely. Percy in newer stuff in the franchise and in fanon is horrifically mischaracterized in ways that are functionally either fully ableist (shoutout TSATS for just outright claiming Percy is intentionally lazy and skips school out of disinterest, which is like the number one ableist attitude towards kids with learning disabilities) or a complete erasure of Percy's disabilities. Also I think he should be a writing major not a marine biologist.

[sewards-phonograph]

Hello, Dr, Seward, you’re my favourite gay autistic man

What is an "autistic"?

[canisalbus]

I love the idea of Machete healing some unresolved stuff about himself because he realizes the things he resented about himself when he was younger are traits that Ear has but because he loves Ear it helps him to realize those traits aren't inherently unlovable. Do you think Machete or Vasco would be helicopter parents?

.

[cryptocism]

Will Tim be the Cheshire cat? I just feel like he'd be perfect cus of bat stuff and how they disappear. And since Tim rarely smiles, what if instead of disappearing into a smile, he disappears into a frown. That's just my thoughts though, ur the maker and I'm just tryna see the rest of your very very interesting au.

yknow im not sure who i want Tim to be yet...

but as for the Cheshire cat I'm thinking Anita! feels intuitive: very mysterious in her yj introduction, teleports, wears purple, etc.

since im pulling from Superboy #92 for Bart as the White Rabbit/March Hare i could probably use that for Tim as well since hes the only other yj member who makes an appearance:

so idk maybe he'll be one of the birds from the caucus race! ¯\(ツ)/¯

[ask-leon-skennedy-dbd]

Hands you a tusm of everyone in Rpd

“Stop looking so smug”

[pkmn-monochrome]

[soracities]

if we should protect children because they are vunerable, this means you would protect cruel children who bullies people who different than them then. the children who responsible to trauma for someone else's entire years

You're assuming that "protecting" children is the same as absolving them of responsibility and that's not what I said. All children are vulnerable, because all children are children; they don't come out of the womb with a perfectly working moral compass anymore than they come out of it waiting to hurt people--they're vulnerable because their understanding of the world is entirely at the mercy of what we, as adults, consistently tell them and show them. Children behaving cruelly aren't exempt from that--they learn that cruelty from somewhere, or someone. Your job, as the adult, is to make sure they understand that it's unacceptable so it will not happen again--but your job is also to ask why someone that young is behaving this way to begin with, so you can ensure they become better.

"Protecting" kids is not ignoring when they hurt or torment others, it's not refusing to teach them consequences or right from wrong, it's not "zero tolerance" policies in schools that treat a child being bullied and the child bullying them as equal instigators, and it's certainly not protecting them from recognizing, and atoning for, the pain they have caused someone else. You don't have to make peace with the now-adults who hurt you when you both were kids, but you cannot let the horrors of your own childhood impact how you treat or respond to the children living theirs around you right now, either.

You don't protect kids so they can get a free pass for bullying or tormenting another child. You protect them because kids are impulsive, emotionally reactive, and profoundly social (which means deeply impressionable) human beings who are still learning & processing insane amounts of information every day about what it means to be alive, to be alive as yourself, to be alive as yourself with other people. Protecting them is realising that you can't isolate the responsibility of a 10 year old from the bigger responsibility of the literal grown adults around them, adults who are in charge of teaching them about the world and how to behave in it. Whether you have children of your own in the future or not is completely irrelevant to this; we all become those adults eventually--no matter what happened to us as kids.

[matryosika]

Please don’t post stuff like that again

Now this, this isn't valid.

I am guessing this is about the Hyunjin story, and I do believe it is okay for you to not like the plot nor the story. I post stuff for the people who might want to read it, and if you read it and you didn't like it well, well that's valid.

However you can't ask me to not post certain stuff just because you, specifically, didn't like it. I am always very cautious about adding warnings about what the plot is/will be. The summary for said story has the word hate in it, and you still read it. Again, maybe you thought it was going to end or be way different, but that isn't something I should take responsibility for.

I appreciate your feedback, and I am sorry that the expectations about the story I posted weren't met for you. But if you don't like where a story is going, just don't read it!

[finelythreadedsky]

heyy i hope you don't mind this question. so recently I've seen a crop of nearly identical articles listing types of love in Greek civilization, which are not trustworthy at all ofc. but I've been trying to verify and debunk claim by claim and I'm in doubt about πραγμα, which would supposedly be a type of business-like romantic connexion, like an arranged marriage. I've never seen it used in this context at all and there are no entries of the sort in LSJ, but I was wondering if you've ever found it used metaphorically by a playwright or poet somewhere? I'm trying to understand what justifies the repeated inclusion of the term in this context

I have no idea where this notion of 'the ancient Greeks had x number of words for love' comes from. it has no ancient basis-- like yeah, there are lots of words in ancient Greek that we would translate as 'love', but they weren't discrete categories or anything, and the same words could and would be used to describe lots of different relationships.

and I have even less idea how πρᾶγμα makes it into those lists. πρᾶγμα means, basically, 'thing' or 'business', and has all the semantic flexibility of 'thing' and 'business.' sure, you could use it to refer to a relationship, but you could also use it to refer to a million other things. it's almost exclusively a word that appears in prose texts, not poetry. the only use the LSJ gives in connection with a romantic/sexual relationship is a speech of Aeschines (Against Timarchus 132) where he mentions the πρᾶγμα of Harmodius and Aristogeiton and is talking about them in the context of their relationship, but that specific phrase could be referring either to their relationship itself or to the action that arose out of their relationship (the attempted tyrannicide), and in any case it's super vague. the LSJ overtranslates this instance under πρᾶγμα as 'love-affair', so if I had to guess I would say this instance might be how πρᾶγμα initially got taken as a word for 'love', and then it probably got taken out of context and blown way out of proportion.

[aroaceleovaldez]

in your most recent tyson post, you said something about leo being distinctly autistic-coded and I was wondering if you could elaborate on that? it sounds really interesting (sorry if you've already posted something on this, I couldn't find anything though)

Of course! I do have a specific tag for talking about Leo's autistic-coding/traits - [here], and [one for Nico as well].

The main aspects with Leo being autistic-coded actually have a lot to do with Nico being autistic-coded, because it's the comparisons between the two that most clearly indicate Leo is autistic-coded rather than it just being his ADHD or etc.

So with Nico being autistic-coded, it's very clear in the Titan's Curse that he's intended to be autistic. First, the first series has a repeating pattern of secondary characters being very distinctly neurodivergent-coded in different ways (Annabeth's adhd/dyslexia, Tyson's down syndrome-coding, Nico's autism-coding). With Nico's introduction, he's pretty stereotypically autistic and we're given a lot of descriptors about him that are notably not attributed to him being ADHD, like it would be for other demigod characters. He doesn't register social cues such as people getting annoyed at him, he's asking/making inappropriate or impolite questions/comments, he gets particularly upset about change (such as Bianca joining the Hunt) and generally gets emotional, and one of his most notable traits he's introduced with is the fact that he has a special interest (MythoMagic) - and we're shown that this special interest particularly colors how Nico navigates the world. While ADHD has hyperfixations, we don't really get much acknowledgement of hyperfixations with demigods usually - Annabeth gets a little, but most others don't and it's not nearly as focused-in on as Nico's is.

Then as the series continues we see these traits stick with him and him start to show or voice more traits that similarly indicate he's autistic: He regularly mentions how he doesn't understand living people and prefers the company of the dead (social issues). He has more notable stims than other demigods (twisting his ring, fiddling with bones, etc). He's indicated to have strong sensory preferences (usually wearing mostly black/aversion to bright colors, usually wearing layers/his coat, multiple times he's described as wearing loose/baggy clothing or clothes too big for him). He has specific comfort items (his ring, likely his jacket(s) as well). We later get even more information about his special interests (Mythomagic/mythology/history and an older interest in pirates - the latter he specifically notes likely heavily influenced his feelings towards Percy). He struggles with emotions and facial expressions and tone. He struggles particularly with ostracism and feeling like he doesn't fit in and has something distinctly different about him from the people around him (who notably, all have ADHD, which indicates it isn't the ADHD that's making him feel that way), and other characters regularly describe him as being off-putting because of his strange behaviors - again, different from specific ADHD traits they recognize. And that last point is kind of notable because we have Hazel and Bianca for comparison - we know people are off-put by both Nico and Hazel because of being children of Hades/Pluto and their powers/aura, but other characters get past that general feeling of discomfort way faster with Hazel. And even after characters get past the death stuff with Nico, there's a second thing that they aren't moving past that isn't a factor with Hazel (Nico's autism).

So that brings us to Leo - Leo is paralleled to Nico a lot. And there's some very specific traits about him that we know are autistic-coding because of how they're used with Nico: He similarly struggles with social cues/etc, and in a very similar parallel to Nico describes how he prefers the company of machines to people because machines make more sense to him. He has similar types of clothing/sensory preferences (again some stuff with layers but also - pockets! He likes having pockets and things to put stuff in! He's even introduced as having a jacket with lots of pockets), and he has a distinct special interest (machinery) that we specifically know heavily influences how he views and navigates the world (constantly comparing things to machinery, describing things with machinery metaphors/terminology, etc etc). He even describes his entire general worldview to Hazel and it's a machine metaphor. He also similarly struggles with ostracization like Nico does, the only difference being that Leo specifically puts on a persona to compensate for areas he knows he's lacking in and very explicitly describes it as a means to make people like him, because without it he normally struggles to fit in (He's masking!). We also see notes of characters describing that similar discomfort with Leo's behaviors that they do with Nico, except without the aura of death this time. And when we're in Leo's POVs we see a very stark difference between his masking and his actual personality/behaviors such as his internal dialogues or how he behaves when he's alone. Also, like Nico, he stims more than other demigods, though for Leo it's more attributed to his ADHD. Leo also, more often than most, similarly struggles with tone and reading the room, such as making misplaced jokes/comments or etc.

But yeah! It's really interesting. Also it's just a fun thing that ADHD/dyslexia and autism have comorbidity, so it makes sense that we see demigods who are also autistic. It's also really fun to look at how other characters are coded in the series, what coding looks like in the riordanverse specifically (usually it's tied into the mythological stuff - like Chiron being in a wheelchair but he's actually a centaur, Grover being introduced as having a muscular disease but he's actually a satyr, demigods having adhd/dyslexia, Tyson being coded as having down syndrome but he's a cyclops, etc etc - it's a lot of specific metaphor stuff that I've talked about a bit before), and to look at how characters are compared to one another.

[sewards-phonograph]

The patient is not the only one being watched.

It's past bedtime, Renfield.

Nice to see you’ve found my tumblr. Enjoying yourself?

*furious scribbling* patient has unprecedented social media aptitude.

*click*

[ckret2]

Thoughts on the likelihood of the venetian blinds' authorial intent being purely "lets throw in some inexplicable lolrandom things for flavor"? That's all I can think of aside from the option of "maybe hirsch thinks the slats between blinds being like a flat line is reminiscent of flatlander vision". It would be a poorly thought out reason, but I can't imagine his reasoning for 3d glasses as a fear is anything other than poorly thought out either

If I thought it likely, I woulda already made up my own headcanon and moved on instead of looking for a non-existent lore-based explanation.

I do believe that Alex is happy to throw in "haha let's just do something random" jokes.

But I do not believe that the Hidden Message On The Secret Website Full Of Deep Lore You Can Only Read By Deciphering A Coded Password, Mixed With Two Other Equally Silly-Sounding But Obviously Lore-Based Phobias, With No Hint To Alert His Obsessively Mystery-Hunting Fanbase That They Don't Need To Take This Specific One Seriously, is the place he'd throw one in.

Why waste space on the Full Of Secrets Site on a silly goofy meaningless phobia... when he could waste that space on a silly goofy gutpunchingly meaningful phobia? Like seriously? We're supposed to think he could invent two silly-but-actually-serious phobias but not three? I can invent a third one in under five seconds. Paddle ball. Boom.

Until/unless he says himself that that one was just to be goofy, I'm assuming there's a real explanation for the Venetian blinds.

[shorthaltsjester]

fuuuuck your point about fjorjester fans who constantly compare them to Travis+Laura is something I’ve been trying to articulate why it bothers me for ages. Like yes, they are a very sweet couple and I love the behind-the-scenes shenanigans and discussions around the gradual development, but that’s pretty much confetti to Fjord and Jester themselves

sorry for the delay in responding to this, anon! i frequently forget that this inbox exists and this apps inconsistency w/ actually giving me notifications means it’s an uphill battle but ANYWAY. yeah no it’s truly like, it’s a similar phenomenon to some of the defences of cr3 where the parasocial aspects of cr fandom leads people to make claims about how it’s just a group of friends around a table — or in this case, just a married couple falling in love again. both of which completely dismiss the actual skills, talent, and effort which denote the successes of cr’s storytelling. because obviously the real people inform the characters in a unique way in actual play — i always think of brennan’s metaphor that characters in ttrpgs are like a kind of stained glass over the real person, a completely different and separate entity but an entity nonetheless made compelling and beautiful by the thing behind it — but to say that the success of fjord and jester comes down to the pre-existing relationship that exists between travis and laura, even when used as some kind of compliment or reason to enjoy the relationship rather than the dismissal it is often used as by fjorester dislikers, that (in addition to just, not being plausible) completely undersells how much character work both of them do to create characters who fall for each other in ways that Mean Something for the development of their characters — for example, the fact that jester spends the early campaign hard crushing on fjord but then doesn’t actually realize she capital L loves him until they’re in a relationship and she realizes that rather than the romance novel, huge sweeping romantic gestures (though fjord also gives her those) she’s learned growing up, love is being completely comfortable with the person she’s with is an excellent expression of jester’s ongoing character development with lessening her naivety while maintaining her love and whimsy. similarly, the fact that it’s two sets of Is It Too Late?s that prompt fjord into beginning to realize his feelings and then act on them; where as travis has mentioned at panels & in no longer available talks machina’s (whose number i could find for citations sake it so needed) fjord realized he might be losing something he hadn’t realized was really there during the jellyfish convo & that he was prompted to finally confess to jester and ask to kiss her because her life was at risk and that after vandran, fjord wasn’t about to let another person leave him without ensuring he told them what they mean to him, that’s all extremely important for fjords development as someone who cares for and takes notice of those around him in his role as the groups leader/diplomat/protector as well as his development towards being able to actually go and seek vandran out instead of just accepting that it might simply be the case that he’ll never get to tell him what he meant to him. none of the power of those character choices comes from the fact that laura and travis are actually married. and it’s consistently infuriating to see what is genuinely one of my favourite narrative love stories be reduced to a relationship that, aside from providing context for a crush that is also narratively grounded from the start of the campaign and (as both travis and laura have mentioned) provided travis with a lower barrier to entry re: romance in dnd, really has very little to do with the story that unfolds

anyway sorry for the word vomit op. it is early in the morning & im procrastinating grading at any and all cost. but yeah tldr: real fucking stupid to look at a story as good as fjord & jesters, as characters who develop in such a way that begets an extremely compelling relationship, and think that saying it’s bc of the real marriage of their creators is in any way a compliment.

[everythingroyalty]

dyin to know your thougts on the photo gate👀

My thoughts is 1.) I can't remember when I've last enjoyed twitter like I currently do. Like, I've been in a pretty bad place recently and I can't wait for Friday when my therapist asks me what's made me feel happy for the first time in weeks and I get to show her this:

And 2.) It is not lost on me how for GOD KNOWS which time, the W&K stans and their prejudice are caught in 4k again. NOW royals are entitled to privacy (something they still sneer at the Sussexes for wanting), NOW it's nORmAL to want to eNhAnCe photos (can't count the amount of times they've accused the Sussexes of doing just that – funny how only one couple has had numerous international news agencies RETRACT a photo because of manipulation 🥲), NOW a 42-year-old is a "young woman" (don't hate that ❤️) who is "being bullied" (but without fail every time Meghan opens her mouth, they have endless shit to spew about her being a gRoWn woman cOmPLaiNiNg – lest we forget when W&K stans dunked on her for writing an essay about her miscarriage 🤡).

As for the photo: I think the ridiculously obvious explanation is that they used a photo from November 2023. Nothing strange or new about that, they often use archive photos for occasions like that. Many royals do. Look at Vincent and Josephine's birthday photo this year. KP's problem is that they wanted the public to think it was a new photo to sate the obsession with wanting to see Kate post-surgery. So the doctoring (not made by Kate, let's just get that settled 🤣) wasn't about enhancements or wanting the kids to "look their best" but about changing bits and bobs of the clothing so people wouldn't notice it's an archive photo.

So now W&K are in a pickle because someone in their staff made up entirely of dingdongs has the photoshop skills of an earthworm. And everyone's like "just release the original!" But they can't because then people will know they were trying to make an old photo look recent which will only add to the "where tf is Kate?" frenzy. And in reality, Kate probably has her reasons for not wanting to go on camera right now which is so legitimate. Meanwhile William's little army of Eton yes-men – whose entire job description up until now has been "1. validate William, 2. throw the Sussexes under the bus" – are literally so inept at actual communications work that with every single move, they make KATE'S situation worse.